/r/SeaShepherd

Photograph via snooOG

A group of supporters of the oceans. Supporting Sea Shepherd Origins.

Direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose, confront, and halt illegal activities on the high seas.


Take action now!

  • Paul Watson -- Your support is what drives our enforcement and conservation efforts, strengthens our resolve, and makes possible the successes we achieve.

  • Crew and be a Shepherd of the Sea - It is easy to recruit crew for money, however, we need to recruit a crew motivated by a passionate compassion. We need people who burn inside with a rage against the injustices perpetrated upon whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, sea birds, fish, and every living thing in the world's oceans.

  • Volunteer Onshore - Our campaigns are only possible because of the day-to-day efforts of our many volunteers. We're always in need of outreach volunteers, fundraisers, donated supplies, information distribution, research work, etc.

  • Donate


Mission

Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

/r/SeaShepherd

2,833 Subscribers

19

It's time to build solidarity with our comrades of the deep - propaganda design, free to use

3 Comments
2023/06/02
13:59 UTC

34

Petition Demanding Resignation of Pritam Singh

This petition is now closed. With over 4,000 signatures, we feel we have sent a strong message to Pritam Singh and his gang. This petition will have an even stronger effect now that the US Department of Interior has put SSCS and the government of Mexico on notice for their inaction in protecting the Vaquita in the Vaquita Refuge. The greenwashing by SSCS has not fooled anyone, and the extinction of the Vaquita rests on the shoulders of Pritam Singh.

Chairman Singh, the people have spoken, and it is way past time for you to resign...

And by the way, this is 4,000 donors that you have lost...

6 Comments
2023/05/28
14:39 UTC

31

....worth a thousand words...

7 Comments
2023/05/16
15:45 UTC

19

Sue Shepherd

#SSCS #SSGlobal What do we do? We Sue! We spend donors money on lawsuits! Ocean? What ocean? Our mission is Money. Our campaign is Money! We are Sue Shepherds...

0 Comments
2023/05/15
17:51 UTC

13

Will the sea shepherds be around for good?

I keep hearing talk of getting rid of them but I’m really interested in joining and going on their ship to help save the whale population.Whaling is a sick sport and I hate to see it.I hope our gov doesn’t like abolish them or something.

2 Comments
2023/05/02
22:06 UTC

34

CPWF Team San Francisco

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation Team San Francisco. Their first event at the International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco #CPWF #IOFF20

2 Comments
2023/04/15
16:41 UTC

21

Force Multiplier for Captain Paul Watson Foundation: Please give what you can so we can save the whales together!

I have a fundraising match for CPWF of up to $750. Please help if you can. The oceans, the whales, dolphins--all marine life--deserve better. I support #CaptainPaulWatsonFoundation and his work! Let's save the whales together! <3 --Missy Crutchfield

https://donorbox.org/fundraisefortheocean/fundraiser/missy-crutchfield

0 Comments
2023/03/28
20:44 UTC

0

Confederate Flag

Not only is it bad that they have the Confederate flag everyone recognizes, but they also have the other two people don’t recognize. Wtf 🤬?

3 Comments
2023/03/28
15:22 UTC

19

Trademark Infringement BS

A certain adulterated, infiltrated, watery nonprofit is spending donor money to have their attorneys communicate with Facebook about alleged "trademark infringement". And Facebook is responding to those corporate law firms, and trampling all over our individual rights to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Facebook is corporate and plays nicey-nice to other corporations, which is what that nonprofit is... Trademark Infringement is Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's bullying and harassment and Facebook bots don't care

3 Comments
2023/03/22
14:15 UTC

45

Message From Captain Paul Watson

Message from Captain Paul Watson. Please share...

Sea Shepherd USA, Sea Shepherd Global and Sea Shepherd Australia have hit us with a broadside disabling my Facebook accounts. They are spending a great deal of money (donor money) to silence me and to erase my history as the founder and the leader of Sea Shepherd for the last 45 years. Even my mention of the words “Sea Shepherd” is now considered by FB to be a trademark violation. The organization is now in the control of a Floridian Property Developer named Pritam Singh a.k.a. Paul Labombard. I could never imagine prior to last summer that Sea Shepherd would be controlled by a man who holds fishing licenses in Alaska and Florida and owns a fishing lodge in Alaska. Sea Shepherd supporters are continuing to support this charade because they don’t know what is happening and Sea Shepherd is working to silence me, to erase my history. Sea Shepherd supporters are being bamboozled by a false narrative. This once highly effective organization is no longer what it was. Since I can’t use the name Sea Shepherd, the name that I created, I am referring to them as the Sea Pretenders. Sea Shepherd USA is suing me to deny me the right to use my own name. Sea Shepherd Global is suing Sea Shepherd France to deny them the right to use the Sea Shepherd name and Sea Shepherd logos, the name and logos that I created. You can help in this situation by posting my message in social networks. I am finding that when people are made aware of the hostile takeover of Sea Shepherd that they will support my Captain Paul Watson Foundation and we will continue the work we have been doing for the last 45 years. Sea Shepherd has changed. I have not.’ Sea Shepherd in France, the U.K., Brazil and Hungary remain loyal to me and are also being targeted by the people who have seized control of our organization, people who are more interested in power and control than in doing the real work to protect life in the sea. This summer, my Foundation will send a ship to Icelandic waters to defend and protect endangered Fin whales. The people who now control Sea Shepherd are trying to stop me. I need your support. Thank you Captain Paul Watson Founder of Sea Shepherd (1977) Founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (2022)

6 Comments
2023/03/19
18:47 UTC

7

Trademark Infringement

A Google search finds 72,000,000 mentions of Sea Shepherd

4 Comments
2023/03/19
15:03 UTC

15

A picture is worth a thousand words

0 Comments
2023/03/19
01:25 UTC

21

Question from Captain Watson to Peter Hammarstedt

Question from Captain Watson to Peter Hammarstedt

You came, you saw, you took some pictures!

What is the point of the current Sea Shepherd Antarctic Defense Campaign?

We all knew, and we all know that huge factory ships are exploiting krill.

These destructive activities have been documented numerous times over the last few years. How many more photos and more videos are needed and what is actually being done?

The education mission has long been accomplished.

Peter Hammarstedt is boasting that the campaign is “effective”.

What does this even mean?

How is taking pictures being effective? How is telling everyone what we already know is happening is being effective?

He states that the campaign is non-controversial and non-confrontational backing up his position that Sea Shepherd has rebranded to be non-confrontational and non-controversial. This statement was meant to distance himself from my long- held strategy of aggressive non-violence.

My questions to Peter Hammarstedt which I suspect he will not answer are:

What are you actually doing to stop these factory vessels?
Are you blocking them? Are you cutting their nets? Are you physically interfering with their operations?

And if not, what is the point and how are you being effective?

Sea Shepherd’s history is one of intervention and documentation, not just documentation. We have never gone on campaigns to gawk, hang banners or just take pictures. The priority was stopping the destruction through physical intervention.

So what is the point?

Is this a publicity tour for marketing the Antarctic fashion merchandise line?

Sea Shepherd is spending a great deal of money sending a large ship down to the South Atlantic just to take photos.

Prove to me that you have not gone soft, that you have not compromised with your government and corporate partners.

Cut the nets, block the operations and stop your ocean posing pretense of what you call direct action?

Because without physical intervention against an industry that is destroying life and diversity, your entire campaign is nothing more than a charade.

As you take pictures those huge nets are pulling in thousands of tons of life. You do know what I would do, if I were in command.

Create an international incident, expose the depredation through action.

Or you can continue to take pictures and make speeches about how bad the situation is as you present yourself as the savior of the Southern Ocean. You're using the word Antarctic Defense. Just what is this defense? The word has a meaning, you could make good on the meaning.

I thought you would have learned from me how to carry out a Sea Shepherd campaign. What you have done is that you have removed the three most essential virtues for an effective campaign – Passion, courage and imagination.

3 Comments
2023/03/18
11:54 UTC

21

Re: Captain Paul Watson’s new fleet, is there any information on how to get involved the way Sea Shepherd has an application to fill out on the website?

1 Comment
2023/03/12
20:12 UTC

15

SEA SHEPHERD FILMS SUPER TRAWLERS STEALING FOOD FROM MEGA POD OF OVER ONE HUNDRED FIN WHALES IN ANTARCTICA

Before you start, my own personal feelings on this. They where not doing anything illegal, They did not hurt any whales and have not been recorded to hurt any whales, they just chase the whales because they are chasing the krill. They are in fishing grounds where they are allowed to fish and the amount they take might be large, no whale is going to go hungry because of it. At this time. If they want less fishing of krill they need to change the laws and work with governments to change these laws. Taking all these photos for the media show they are attending direction action of filming some legal fishing but it looks good on camera, so they got Peter and Alistair on the rhib to take action photos next to the fishing vessel. End rant...

https://tasmaniantimes.com/2023/03/supertrawlers-harvesting-krill-among-whale-pods/

Media release – Sea Shepherd, 10 March 2023

SEA SHEPHERD FILMS SUPER TRAWLERS STEALING FOOD FROM MEGA POD OF OVER ONE HUNDRED FIN WHALES IN ANTARCTICA

On Monday Sea Shepherd Global filmed two super trawlers with their massive nets deployed plowing through a mega pod of over one hundred fin whales as they fed on krill off the South Orkney Islands, Antarctica.

“The two super trawlers made no effort to change course. It even appeared as if they deliberately steered toward the spouting megapod, knowing that where there are whales, there must be krill,” said Captain Peter Hammarstedt from on board Sea Shepherd Global’s newest vessel Allankay.

Another two super trawlers immediately hauled their nets and fled the scene when Allankay arrived.

The shocking footage was captured on the first day of Sea Shepherd Global arriving in the Southern Ocean for our latest campaign. Operation Antarctica Defense is a mission to tackle the greatest ecological threat to the Antarctic ecosystem by monitoring the fishing activity of a growing fleet of trawlers targeting vital krill populations.

Krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean that forms the bedrock of the entire Antarctic ecosystem, is the primary food source for baleen whales and penguins, with most marine life either directly dependent on krill as food source or no more than one step removed.

With the international decline in whaling—including Sea Shepherd Global driving the last whalers out of the Southern Oceans in 2018—the krill fishery has taken its place, with 12-14 industrial trawlers targeting not whales directly, but instead the keystone species they depend on for survival.

“We are seeing sharp declines in humpback whale pregnancies, a decrease in the body mass of fur seals and a plummeting of chinstrap penguin populations. All three species depend on krill as a primary food source. All while climate change has reduced both the amount and duration of the sea ice that krill need to survive,” said Hammarstedt.

The deadly impact on whales is not just indirect. In 2021, the deaths of three whales—in three separate events—were documented in krill trawl nets, highlighting the growing conflict between fishing vessel operators and whales chasing the same krill.

Three weeks ago, Ecology magazine published a Stanford University study that revealed four large fishing vessels trawling through a super group of over 1,000 fin whales for krill. The study concluded that this kind of competition between krill fishers and whales will only increase in the future. The recent footage from the South Orkney Islands proves that this fishing event was not an isolated incident.

Krill are being extracted out of the Southern Ocean primarily to produce krill meal, a feed additive in the aquaculture industry, but also, to churn out krill oil to mass produce Omega-3 dietary supplements. As a feed additive, the krill meal turns the otherwise grey flesh of captive salmon pink or red, mimicking their wild cousins.

Modern krill fishing vessels install a vacuum hose at the end of their trawl net so that the vessel can fish around the clock, while also ensuring that krill aren’t crushed to death as the net is otherwise hauled up on deck, a gruesome process that would result in the loss of precious oil pressed from their tiny bodies.

“It is an absurdity and a crime against nature that krill are being hoovered out of the remote Southern Oceans—by massive industrial vessels that have traveled halfway around the world to get there—just so that the linchpin species, on which the health of the entire ecosystem depends, can be sucked from the gaping mouths of hungry whales and penguins in order to turn farmed salmon pink,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic Campaigner with The Bob Brown Foundation.

The crew on board Allankay will be monitoring the fishery and its impact on whales, documenting its activities while mapping out the entire supply chain. Sea Shepherd Global has teamed up with the Australian Bob Brown Foundation, who will be investigating the krill fishing companies and how krill ends up on the shelves of Australian supermarkets and pharmacies as part of their “End Krill Fishing” campaign.

13 Comments
2023/03/11
09:37 UTC

19

Sea Shepherd Germany not a "rebel"? 🥺

UPDATE: thanks to u/pawys1111

Sea Shepherd Germany is under the Global umbrella. It is run mostly by global board members. Paul did sent the local directors an email but they have not responded.

I'm in Germany and a friend told me about the BS going on with Global. They told me that Sea Shepherd Germany is a huge source of cash through donations and merch to Global.

I cancelled my monthly donation already, but is it true that the German branch gives money to Global? Has Sea Shepherd Germany taken a stance on direct action?

This is so frustrating and even more so that the Sea Shepherd donor community isn't well connected; I get the feeling that many people aren't aware that the lists of ships sunk or confiscated, tons of nets removed, etc. won't be growing any more. 😒

8 Comments
2023/03/01
13:49 UTC

44

State of Sea Shepherd Affairs

Sea Shepherd USA is now run by a wealthy Floridian property developer who holds hunting and fishing licenses in Alaska and Florida, own a fishing lodge in Alaska, eats fish and has abandoned Sea Shepherd’s original principles of aggressive non-violence.

No one on the Sea Shepherd U.S. Board has ever crewed on a Sea Shepherd ship. One Sea Shepherd director was formally a dolphin trainer, two others were Florida politicans.

Sea Shepherd USA no longer pulls and confiscates illegal gill nets in the Vaquita Refuge.
Sea Shepherd USA scrapped 4 ships and sold a 5th despite the tremendous effort by volunteers to secure and maintain them.

Sea Shepherd USA is spending large sums of donor’s money on suing the founder of Sea Shepherd to prevent him from using his own name.

Sea Shepherd USA covertly registered some 70 trademarks to control the Sea Shepherd name worldwide.

Sea Shepherd USA has removed any reference to their founder their website in an attempt to erase his history.

Sea Shepherd Australia has a partnership with Austral Fisheries, a toothfish fishing company 50% owned by the Japanese fishing and former whaling company Maruha Daichiro. Austral Fisheries CEO David Carter helped secure a tax-exempt status for Sea Shepherd Australia. Australian Sea Shepherd director describes David Carter as a friend and cycling buddy. Austral fisheries sold one of their boats to Sea Shepherd Australia at a discount and donated a large tonnage of diesel fuel for the ship in addition to other cash and material donations. Austral Fisheries fishes primarily for endangered Antarctic toothfish marketed as Chilean Sea Bass. Austral Fisheries now uses Sea Shepherd Australia to greenwash their activities.

Sea Shepherd Global scrapped the Bob Barker instead of utilizing it in a strategic campaign to the Faroe Islands.

Sea Shepherd Global is now suing Sea Shepherd France demanding that Sea Shepherd France not be allowed to use the Sea Shepherd name or Sea Shepherd logos despite the fact that Sea Shepherd France was established long before Sea Shepherd Global. This means that funds donated to Sea Shepherd to protect the Ocean are being used to sue other Sea Shepherd groups in an effort to remove their activities.

Sea Shepherd France has been the most active, dynamic and successful Sea Shepherd entity on the planet and Sea Shepherd Global is trying to shut them down.

In February Lamya Essmlali, the President of Sea Shepherd France was dismissed from the Global Board without an explanation, without a meeting, a discussion or a legitimate vote because she refused to stop asking questions the other directors refused to answer, questions about the partnerships with African nations.

Only Sea Shepherd France, Sea Shepherd UK, Sea Shepherd Brazil and Sea Shepherd Hungary remain loyal to the original focus of the Sea Shepherd movement established by Captain Paul Watson in 1977.

Captain Paul Watson created the name, the organization and the movement and he created and designed the Sea Shepherd logos for which he is now be sued to not use despite the fact that he has not used the name or the logos since his departure from Sea Shepherd. What they want now is to ban Paul Watson from using the name Paul Watson, claiming the name is too closely linked to Sea Shepherd and is causing irreparable damage to “their brand.”

Sea Shepherd principles have been compromised and diminished and are now being used by governments and corporations for greenwashing purposes.

What once one the world’s most uncorruptible, active, and most aggressive marine anti-poaching movement is no more. It has morphed into a mediocre, timid and self-promoting organization more interested in pushing merchandise sales than in real conservation activities.

What was once is no more and that is both tragic and shameful.

No need to guess who wrote this.

7 Comments
2023/02/27
05:25 UTC

15

Hope this is OK to post; I rewrote a whaling shanty from the whales' point of view and I thought it might fit here!

8 Comments
2023/02/20
16:54 UTC

5

FFS! Sea Shepherd Global? Are you kidding?

0 Comments
2023/02/18
06:04 UTC

5

New Shirt sales

Thinking we could make a few shirt sales from one of those print as you need them companies.

We could do

We <3 Pritim Singh

or

Sea Shepherd supports Austral fisheries

Just follow the dead fish on the back of the shirt.

Maybe

Welcome Kristján Loftsson

Could get a few sales ;)

0 Comments
2023/02/18
03:54 UTC

20

Donations Pay For SSCS Lawsuits

12 Comments
2023/02/18
00:25 UTC

14

Crew post 12th Feb 2022

From a Facebook post by crew member.

Post is on the Neptunes Navy page.

My experience as a disappointed seven-year Sea Shepherd veteran.

On 30th August 2022, I was on Sea Shepherd’s new ship, The M/V Allankay, in Perth, when the ship's donors Allan and Kay visited along with Jeff Hansen for a tour. After the tour, we were all invited to a restaurant to celebrate the ship joining the fleet, name change etc. All the crew attended, along with Jeff, his wife and the CEO of Austral Fisheries David Carter. Speeches were given by Allan, Jeff and David. Allan talked about wanting to do his bit for the oceans, climate change and some of his experiences, being in his late 80s he said he was unable to crew. Allan and Kay had donated a third of their net worth to Sea Shepherd which was estimated at 5 million AUD. Jeff talked about the generous donation from Austral Fisheries and looking for a ship to suit Sea Shepherd's specifications which he claimed Sea Shepherd had been looking for many months in different places but not realizing the ideal ship was on the doorstep in Perth. Jeff also teared up during his speech whilst talking about his history with Sea Shepherd, its recent efforts with IUU fishing and how this boat will be the greatest ship in the Sea Shepherd fleet.

David talked briefly about the purchase of the vessel, how it's an honour to work with Sea Shepherd and how Austral fisheries has become a sustainable fishing company through offsetting carbon emissions and buying new vessels that are sustainable regarding fuel consumption. From memory, he didn't mention anything about changing fishing gear or the bycatch. After his speech he did not stay long, in retrospect, he probably didn't want to be questioned by Sea Shepherd activists as it may have been awkward or maybe he was just busy and needed to return to work.

A new harbour generator was delivered before sailing at an estimated 12k AUD. The Superintendent spent a lot of money on parts that were not needed. It shows no thought into spending money and a big business attitude, not a non-profit mindset, wasting money didn't seem to cross his mind.

We were delayed from leaving port due to the Australian strict rules of Sea Shepherd crew not holding Australian marine qualifications, so the plan was to hire an external crew to deliver the ship to Namibia. Whilst waiting for the crew to arrive I learnt a few things about the deal with Austral fisheries and the campaign that the AK was heading on after the refit in Namibia. One being the winter diesel fuel which was already on board was donated to Sea Shepherd by Austral, it was approximately 120 cubic meters and two, the small boats and davits have to be fitted for the campaign due to the mystery donors. The ship would not leave on campaign without the new boats in place.

Before we departed, Jeff came on the ship to bid us farewell and thanked us all for our hard work, he also mentioned the meeting he had with all the Australian onshore volunteers, the one where he criticised Paul. He basically said " you may have seen the things on social media with Paul, it's best to ignore these posts and focus on the job we have to do" it wasn't open for discussion as he swiftly moved on to another subject.

Once we arrived in Namibia the engineering superintendent and his assistant joined the ship and gave us a debrief on the work to be done, duration etc. He addressed the meeting every morning and also informed us of trips off the ship on days off, one of which was to the local seal colony. He made a joke about seal clubbing which wasn't very tactful and later on found out that the new ship manager had taken offence to this, reported it to the crewing coordinator and left the ship. The superintendent also mentioned the social media stuff with Paul and like Jeff, told us to ignore it as Paul is an old man who doesn't know what he is doing, and should retire and let Sea Shepherd continue their work.

One of the reasons the new harbour generator was purchased was because of the dry dock not having shore power available. As we were preparing to be hauled out, the engineering department organized the cabling for the harbour generator. Once we got into our spot, we got the information that there was shore power on site so they rearranged the cabling for the shore power. I know the superintendent had been in Walvis Bay before so why didn't he do the research on the shore power? Also, the Ocean Warrior was in the same port and was due to enter the dry dock but was cancelled due to a lack of funding as donors had stopped donating due to the split of Paul and the organization.

In regard to the campaign, we were informed by the superintendent that the ship would head to Argentina and then down to Antarctica to monitor the krill fishing by using drones. We were told that the ship would not sail without the donated high-powered small boats and davits fitted. The small boats would not be needed on the campaign as it was just a research campaign, and the ship already had a rescue boat on board. My suspicion, that Austral Fisheries were the mystery donors of these small jet boats and winter fuel in exchange for video and photography of the transformed ship with the small boats fitted in Antarctica so Austral can link Sea Shepherd to them and boost their sustainable fishing branding. It's just a hunch and it makes sense.

I left the AK very disappointed and let down by how Sea Shepherd Global is treating Paul Watson and what a soft touch Sea Shepherd had become. Another thing I noticed which added to my departure, was the crew. It wasn't that I didn't get on with them but some of them were not activists and seemed more interested in linking their involvement with Sea Shepherd to their social media, potentially for ego-boosting and obtaining the crew t-shirt.

I originally joined Sea Shepherd to take direct action for the oceans but unfortunately, their definition of direct action within Sea Shepherd has changed. Working with the government, burning fuel patrolling for months on end, and arresting ships only to be given a small fine and let back out to sea again is not direct action. Sea Shepherd seems to care more about their image rather than the core roots of the organization. The AllanKay krill research campaign is one of the many examples. From my experience with Sea Shepherd, I have spent a lot of time in port, transiting from one country to another and the campaigns have been non effective. They have slowly become a government subcontractor.

I have now joined Captain Paul Watson Foundation to take real direct action and work with an organization that doesn’t bend over for corrupt governments.

Edit 12th Removed Facebook user name was incorrect.

14 Comments
2023/02/12
05:54 UTC

5

Has anyone been on the Boto Expedition (Amazon river dolphins)?

Has anyone here been out on that campaign? I would love to hear from you if so! I was asked to go out and I would love to talk to someone who has done it to see what the day-to-day is like.

5 Comments
2023/02/11
03:13 UTC

8

#SSCS #SeaShepherd Monitoring the spy balloons from our ship, The Seahorse, in the Vaquita Refuge. We simply turned our sonar equipment upside down... We Are Counting! Donate Now!

5 Comments
2023/02/05
20:48 UTC

11

Opinions of recent crew

I’m interested in chatting/debating with current or recent (previous year) crew about the whole Paul vs Sea Shepherd fiasco and get your side and what you think.

I’ll answer based on my own opinions from crewing continuously for the last 2 years now, and still crewing now.

26 Comments
2023/01/30
23:05 UTC

6

Recap of activity

I remembered seeing the TV show when I was younger of them patrolling the arctic waters against the whalers. But have they been up to since? Are they still active and strong? Or are they on a decline due to politicising?

5 Comments
2023/01/30
12:08 UTC

21

Preparing THE JOHN PAUL DEJORIA II for its missions at sea with The Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

1 Comment
2023/01/26
05:32 UTC

13

SEA SHEPHERD GLOBAL REALITIES: WEST AFRICA CAMPAIGNS

Via Gary Stokes - CEO of OceansAsia

SEA SHEPHERD GLOBAL REALITIES: WEST AFRICA CAMPAIGNS

Let me begin by stating that my intentions with this publication are not to discredit the hard work of ship crews in West African campaigns over the years, but rather is simply a realistic look at how effective these collaboration campaigns are with the governments and whether donor funds are being spent wisely.

At first, I supported the new approach to working alongside governments and law enforcement agencies. In 2017 I started a campaign in Timor Leste based on information I had received about a fleet of 15 large sharks-fishing boats. These ships were killing about 80,000 sharks a month, and together with the PNTL (National Police of Timor Leste) we launched a damn mission, tackled them and arrested them all. We received a message from Captain Watson to the crew, congratulating us all on “the biggest win in 40 years of Sea Shepherd!” ”We had them out of combat and it felt great....

Those 15 boats remained detained for 9 months in Timor Leste until the corrupt outgoing Fisheries Minister somehow managed to convince a judge to release them, even with a pile of evidence proving them guilty of violating Timorese laws. My heart sank and in that moment I realized we hadn't saved anything, we just delayed the kill. These ships left and are currently out somewhere, wreaking havoc on the ocean.

That's when I began to question the effectiveness of working with governments and law enforcement. I asked my colleagues at Sea Shepherd Global a few questions about collaborations in West Africa and got a feeling they didn't like where I was going with my approach. Shortly after I was told I was no longer needed, in fact just 3 hours before my flight from Hong Kong to Copenhagen to attend a FishCrime symposium. Someone clearly did not want me there! Over the years, I've observed campaigns in Africa led by Sea Shepherd Global and the same questions continue to run through my head.

In 2022 Sea Shepherd Global declared on their social media that they had been patrolling all year.

More poaching fishermen arrested in 2022
We've been out there all year, patrolling INDNR fishing in African waters and helping local authorities arrest 8 illegal fishing boats, including our 80th boat since the start of our African campaigns.
Millions of lives were saved as a result, giving over-exploited ocean ecosystems a chance to restore their balance.”
Posted by Sea Shepherd Global on FB on December 29, 2022.

Sea Shepherd Global has also made statements claiming 40% of all the world's INDNR fishing develops in West African waters. What I cannot understand is how “the most effective marine conservation organization,” in association with local, national governments and their law enforcement, can patrol for a year in waters that, even they claim, are so plentiful on U.S. ship targets (40% of) all the world UI fishing) and find and arrest only 8 boats in a whole year?
(In 2021, the annual total was even lower, just 6 boats! )

When we look at the 8 ships arrested in 2022, 6 were detained for human life safety breaches at sea (with 2 of them also arrested for electronic fraud). And only 2 were actually caught fishing illegally? With statements like "Catching poachers", etc. , each and every arrest is announced on social media as a great positive outcome.
However, this slightly loses its impact when you discover that many of the ships, paid their fines, and then were released shortly after to continue doing exactly what they were doing before, to extract ruthlessly from the oceans of life.

Vessel - Date of Detention - Country - Offence - DAYS STOPPED

GuoJi 831 - 9/27/22 - Liberia - Security and Electronic Fraud - 10
GuoJi 829 - 10/9/22 - Liberia - Security and Electronic Fraud - 9
Kanball 3 - 9/3/22 - Liberia - Occupational and Safety Violations - 6
Shang Fu - 6/22/22 - Namibia - Flutter Sharks and Elusion of Authorities - Unknown Whereabouts
Bao Lucky - 4/20/22 - Liberia - Sea Life Safety - 5
GuoJi 828 - 14/4/22 - Liberia - Safety of Life at Sea - 21
GuoJi 832 - 14/4/22 - Liberia - Safety of Life at Sea - 21
Global 8 - 10/4/22 - Liberia - Coastal Exclusion Zone Fishing, no helmet markings - Whereabouts unknown

I wouldn't say an average 12-day detention (over the 6 ships we could track) was "kill them" or "put them out of service" or even "give over-exploited ecosystems time to rebuild." “Save millions of lives” or delay their death a few weeks?
Of course, INDNR fishing is reduced at the time in the country where patrols are conducted, as INDNR boats simply move to neighboring countries. This is commonly known as displacement in police terms. F/V Kanball 3 spent 6 days in port before being released after having its Liberian fishing license revoked. The captain took the ship to Senegal where he continues fishing.

So are donor funds being used effectively?

The costs of operating large ships like Bob Barker and the Age of Union (Sam Simon) range from about $1,000,000 to $1,200,000 per year. Thus, having at least one boat "patrolling for a whole year" is a large amount of committed donor funds. You can’t put a price on one life, on any life, however, when you have been entrusted with donor funds to make the most out of it, one has to seriously question the effectiveness of these campaigns in West Africa.

More than $1 million in donations to stop 8 fishing boats for an average 12-day detention in 2022, doesn't seem to be the best use of donor funds.

Who is benefiting?

Well, government officials certainly benefit. They get a free boat, free crew, and free fuel. They get to give the public (and the rest of the world) the impression that they are taking action to combat INDNR fishing. This sure helps them with re-election.
Sea Shepherd Global benefits from having campaigns it can boast of making a “big positive difference” and “keeping INDNR fishing on the forefront.” This brings in donations as well as grants from the Dutch National ZIP Code Lottery.

Global executives get personal media coverage to boost their own public image, being invited to present at conferences around the world, do celebrity tours, as well as get offers to publish books, for TV shows and films.

Lamya Essemlali, one of the five Sea Shepherd Global directors and president of Sea Shepherd France recently asked Peter Hammarstedt the same questions I did about West African campaigns. After several emails, he got no reply. As I type, she was just informed that she is no longer needed at Sea Shepherd Global!

3 Comments
2023/01/25
02:33 UTC

4

Apropos of Nothing (or maybe not)

Question: What was the title of the last book that Pritam Singh edited for Thich Nhat Hanh? Answer:  The Art of Power

Singh Quote: Singh told Ed Beem of The Maine Times that he adhered to an old Sufi saying: “There are two ways to become the tallest tree in the forest. You either grow or you cut down all the other trees.”

Sufi update? If that doesn't work, then sue the shit out of them...

1 Comment
2023/01/24
21:53 UTC

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